Genetic testing is of increasing interest to the medical and scientific communities. In medicine, genetic testing provides details regarding the origin of disease, susceptibility to ailments, responsiveness to drugs, and identification of inherited traits. Animal sciences look to genetic testing to provide similar details in addition to using genetic testing for classification of species and determining migration patterns, among other uses. In other fields, such as agricultural science, genetic testing is used to identify gene sequences that can be incorporate into strains of flora or fauna to reduce susceptibility to pests and disease and to improve production.
While many genetic testing techniques have been proposed, recent genetic testing techniques rely on nucleic acid conjugated polymer networks disposed on a substrate, such as a substrate of an optical device or an ion sensitive device that can be used to detect nucleotide incorporation, for example. In a particular example, conjugated discrete polymer networks can be deposited into wells disposed over ion sensitive field effect transistors, which measure pyrophosphate or hydrogen ions released as a result of nucleotide incorporation. Other techniques rely on arrays of discrete polymer networks disposed on substrates without wells.